Metals recovery unit



1952 L. R. cox 2,617,525

METALS RECOVERY UNIT Filed April 5, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 q i 27 i 25INVENTOH //4 Lee R. C0x

ATTORNEYS NOV. 11, 1952 COX 2,617,525

' METALS RECOVERY UNIT Filed April 5, 1950 I 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 000000000000000000000000000 Z6 ooooooooooooooooo00000000000 00000OOOOOOOOOOO OOQOOOOOOOO 00000000000000000 00000000000 INVENTOR Lee'R. Cox

0 1a 2 1s 12 BY I ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 11, 1952 C. a La qw.

bil s- .s

. n. .Agpliqation pril 3, 1950, Serial No:"153,717

zj a laim 1 This invention .dinected .0 anduitiis. an ob- ..12 .9Y...-.a

d i-.. h.=..unitizsbeinge esp k)l,1ig; r oi;.lilfni-ted fonusetorrecover l nothe pjeqp t. -tn ..inv.emion lis .to..pr.a vide "a'metals recovery uni W amal ama on nrooess amn qu mann r; be-W t levialsl a si ea san ue, Withthe. mchided metalsueh, a.s;. 1d,is-..nassedin.-.a...water stream .downwardlythmughaplurality of horil l a ysdsposed opper; w ol. sp n es pads, 3.1mm; nter being nercurized toeffectively amalm fia i ldr m sa d. a e

a dditional ohject .o-f theinvention is to .pro-1.lvidefawinetals.reqoyerfv;unit, as inthe preceding 1 h -wherein thecopper wool. pads are ifted udrawers, of novel design, housingof theunit. for, ready 1 \....-b ;a1marked adv nt e mitting :the' device tooperate continuously as aw r .m y be.-. e i and. :quickly manujally andreplaced without shutting Qii quh V A i gt of thev invention is toprovide a nieta'l's ery nnit, .whic h has a:..relative1y,..liighfcapae1t yet is elfficient inth recovery of 7 -g' i $9 .1 'Ph:.$5; i sfif fl ncy being-sulfi- .f .ciehtlyinigh 1 t .hat normally. QECaE ed'J'laflingS. can e rew 'orkeg profitably; llowevelfathe =.unit.iswell adapted for use in initial processing of metal .bearing niaterialsas W ll as. reworking tailings as above.

' I t is also anpbject of the invention to-provide a n etals.recoxgeryrunit which isdesigned for ease and economy qf,manufact11re;..the.unit.being of .sirnplejyet sturdy.. construction.

Still ,a-nothfillobject ofv the invention-is tol-proideapracticalandreliablemetals recovery unit, 1 and on zwhiohnwillbeexceedinglyeeffective-for the purgose. ,fqli. which it is designed.

flhese objects. arewaccomplished by means of.such.struetureandzrelativearrangement ofparts as:;.will-fu1ly..appearby.a perusalof the -following ...,.specifica'tion and-claims] 2...;Inlthe'. drawings .I...Fig..=1 is a front elevation of the novel n etals .,..recovery.unit. W i

Fig. 2 a sectional elevation oj the sa me.

"g. 3 is a sectional plan: iriew. on. line of 4' Fig.4 is .asectionalplan riew o n line, 44 of Fig.

5 s a -i ee pez i .transve e.se n of tals ecpyer n'unit of novel hichemploysithelmeri(Qt 20.3757) Referring-now -moi-e particularly to ---thecharasters of re ferenceenti le-drawings, the novel, smetalsrecoveryunit -co mprises--avertically elongated housing,- indicated-generally at--l which housing is preferably rectangular inplan.

The housing 1- includes a back wall 2,- side-Walls (3,.3and-{airont wall4; at least-the lower half of ----the-latte1 -being in--the form ofa-door 5 hinged Qalong one vrtical side-edge, as at 6, for opening wfroma normally=-closedposition. -.The.iloor-5 is--nornia1ly held" closed,by--releas- 's-able securing devices -'l--,- and said door is-fitted, onthe front -withareadilyaccessiblehandle 8. At---the-- top -thereofl thehousing -l isonen so lithat material to he-processedmayleafed-downwardly into saiddaousing.

A-perforate--c1assifier---p1ate -;9 isflxed in, and extendsin fullmatching relation-across, -the housing l-adj.aeent. but short of its-upper end; said' classifier plate being at a downwardincline -rom:-side to side of thehousinggthelatter havwing a discharge opening [0inthe-=side thereof at the lower end of said classifier plate. TAperioratedistributopplate l-l 4s---fi-xed in the mousingi inadiacentbutspaced; relation below fltheclassifier plate 9;--asaid distri;butorplate II a extendin-g in matching; relationacross-thehousingfrom side to-side-thereof and atadownwardinclineopposed to -the inclineof the plassifier plate 9.

:Belowthe distributor--plate li -the housing I is fitted with aplurality of verticallyspaced drawers, eacl'g indicated generally at l2;- said drawers all being supportedfor-withdrawalfrom ---the -housingl-;--w;henthe-doo1= E ls-open, by means df;--fla1iges=- I3 on; oppositesides of 'saidhousin in ternally --thereof.

By opening the door 5 the drawers- I; may be selectivelw and separatelywithdrawnmm {the -housing l.

As all oi the drawers IZ- are of; identica l constl ue'tiqn a desc riition of; one will suflice.

12 w? .2 em ri e a t n u ar. b rd 91. awer ly la in h n l.. he slsuc 9 IQ remeb i stsplii herizqnta y and. nna ly dae us e sari n 1. an lowe przJ zi heup enandlowenppitions. L5 nd I f 1 11 99rd flame Hare.hinse ioeihemlon -91 2 995%.. a t..."- 7 7 flherectan .u anbqxderiname 1.4 is..fittedwith itpm qre n [SP-secured, ze a. tm e.uiepe-..pqm n....and.,-.1Qw portion [6. Between the top-. spi een L8. and,bo'ttom.screen lg each. draw arries a relatively 3 such copper wool beingmercurized. The mercurization of the copper wool pads 20 isaccomplished, in advance of use in the instant metals recovery unit, byany suitable process.

A non-perforate deflector plate 2! is secured to one side of the housingbelow the lowermost drawer l2, and thence extends toward the other sideat a downward incline; such deflector plate terminating at its lower endshort of such other side of the housing, whereby material may feeddownwardly from said lower end of the deflector late. p Below thedeflector plate, and at an opposed incline, is a riflle plate 22 whichincludes transverse riflles 23; the riffle plate 22 extending, inmatching relation, across the housing from side to side thereof.

A discharge opening 24 is formed in the side of the housing immediatelyabove the lower end of said rifile plate 22. At vertically spaced pointsin the housing I; to-wit, above the perforate classifier plate 9,between the latter and the distributor plate H, and between certainadjacent ones of the drawers [2, the device is fitted with horizontalsets of spaced-apart but parallel spray pipes 24. The spray pipes 24 ofeach set lead from, and are supported by, a manifold 25, and eachmanifold is in turn supported by, and fed from, a vertical water supplypipe 25 by an attachment nipple 21; the water supply pipe 25 beingdisposed exteriorly of the housing I and including a control valve 28therein.

The above described metals recovery unit employs the mercuryamalgamation process, and the unit functions in the following manner:

Reduced ore material or other gangue with included metal for recovery isfedafter initial rough classificationby gravity into the upper end ofthe housing I, and thence feeds along the perforate classifier plate 9,the larger or classified-out material passing through the dischargeopening ID as waste.

The smaller material, carrying the metal to be recovered, feeds throughthe classifier plate 9 onto the distributor plate II. From thedistributor plate H the material flows downwardly, in well distributedrelation, through the foraminous drawers [2 and the mercurized copperwool pads 20 therein; the metal-such as gold-to be recoveredamalgamating with the mercury on said pads.

After passing through all of the drawers I2 and pads 20 the material isdeflected by the plate 2| onto the upper end of the rifiie plate 22, andthence gravitates down the latter; a final amalgamation taking placewithin the confines of the transverse rifiles 23.

At the lower end of the riiile plate 22 the gangue discharges from thehousing I through the discharge opening 24.

Flow of the material through the housing I from top to bottom is inwater, such flow being maintained and enhanced by the spray which emitsfrom the sets of spray pipes 24.

After the metals recovery unit has been in operation for some time, withthe mercurized copper wool pads 20 becoming substantially fullyamalgamated, the drawers 12 are withdrawn and fresh ones replaced; thisoperation being accomplished without necessity of shutting down theoperation. To withdraw the drawers I2 it is only necessary to releasethe securing devices I and to open the door 5. 7

After the drawers [2 are withdrawn from the housing, the copper woolpads are removed from said drawers and then subjected to a smelteringprocess for the recovery of the gold or other amalgamated metals; thesmeltering process also effecting recovery of the copper wool as salablecopper and recovery of the mercury for subsequent use.

By employing mercurized copper wool in pads, the desired amalgamation isaccomplished in a practical and exceedingly effective manner; the copperwool tending to polish and thus enhance amalgamation as the metal forrecovery passes through said pads.

Another feature which assures of effective amalgamation is the fact thatthe mercurized copper wool pads present in total a very greatamalgamating surface.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there hasbeen produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new anduseful, and upon which Letters Patent are desired:

1. In a metals recovery unit, an upstanding rectangular housing havingan opening in its front wall extending from side to side thereof, aplurality of drawers separately supported in the housing in verticallyspaced relation for individual and selective withdrawal horizontallythrough said opening, the plurality of drawers being all disposed in azone intermediate the top and bottom of the opening, each drawer havingvalues retaining material therein, and a door to close the opening.

2. In a metals recovery unit, amalgamating means comprising a drawer,said drawer including a border frame horizontally separated onto anupper portion and a lower portion, said portions being movable from aclosed to an open position, a foraminous top on the upper portion, aforaminous bottom on the lower portion, and a mercurized metal wool padfilling the drawer and removably engaged between said foraminous top andbottom.

3. A metals recovery unit comprising a vertically elongated housing, aplurality of drawers supported one above the other in the housing forwithdrawal, each drawer being foraminous, a mercurized copper wool padin each drawer, a perforate classifier plate secured across the housingat an incline above the drawers, there being a discharge opening in thehousing at the lower end of the classifier plate, a perforatedistributor plate secured across the housing above the draw ers andbelow the classifier plate at an incline opposed to the latter, means tointroduce water into the housing and distribute said water above thedrawers, a deflector plate below the drawers secured to one side of thehousing and extending at a downward incline toward but terminating shortof the other side, a rifile plate secured to said other side of thehousing below the deflector plate and extending at a downward inclineopposed to the latter, and there being a discharge opening adjacent thelower end of the riiile plate.

4. A metals recovery unit comprising a vertically elongated housing, aplurality of drawers supported one above the other in the housing forwithdrawal, each drawer being foraminous, a

mercurized copper wool pad in each drawer, a perforate classifier platesecured across the housing at an incline above the drawers, there beinga discharge opening in the housing at the lower end of the classifierplate, a perforate distributor plate secured across the housing abovethe drawers and below the classifier plate at an incline opposed to thelatter, means to introduce water into the housing and distribute saidwater above the drawers, a deflector plate below the drawers secured toone side of the housing and extending at a downward inclined toward butterminating short of the other side, a riflle plate secured to saidother side of the housing below the deflector plate and extending at adownward incline opposed to the latter, and there being a dischargeopening adjacent the lower end of the rifile plate; said waterintroduction means including a plurality of sets of horizontal spraypipes in the housing, one set being above the classifier plate, 20

another set between the classifier plate and distributor plate, and athird set between certain adjacent ones of said drawers.

LEE R. COX.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

